One morning I woke early enough to grab camera, dog and coffee and drove down to the end of the island for a different perspective. Sunrises are normally just a walk across the street for me. While fun, it can get predictable. How silly! Predictable sunrises! How spoiled am I?!

Just as Baylee and I pulled up into the empty parking lot another car pulled up as well. Damn, I thought. Solitude is my morning meditation. Baylee is my only exception this day and now I have to share this moment with someone else. No help for it I leash Baylee, sling my camera over my shoulder and head off onto the path.

Walking past the other car a lady exited her vehicle, her own dog leashed and ready for a walk. We stop and laugh, and let our dogs get acquainted. She also has a camera. She also was looking for solitude.

Instead of solitude we both made a new friend. Heidi hails from New York and was a first responder on 9/11. She lives at the beach now, her lungs nearly destroyed by the fumes and harsh chemicals she breathed in on that fateful day. We shared tears and stories, she more than me, and at the end we hugged and vowed to always stay in touch. We do, too. We have different politics but that will never stop us from being friends. Well, I say “friends,” but that as you know is always a work in progress. We are Becoming. And it’s all because we put aside our quest for solitude aside and shared our morning “space,” embracing the opportunity. The photo above is one I shot that morning.

There’s no moral to this story. It’s just a story. One of millions and millions around the world. I’m grateful for everyone I’ve met in person and online for you help me grow. All of you, each of you, individually and collectively you help me grow.

“For my panacea…..let me have a draught of undiluted morning air. Morning air! If men will not drink of this at the fountainhead of the day, why, then, we must even bottle up some and sell it in the shops, for the benefit of those who have lost their subscription ticket to morning time in this world.” (Henry David Thoreau)

Morning air!!! My favorite time of the day, bar none, is that moment between darkness and dawn. The sky begins a subtle brightening. The air is clear and clean and coats my lungs with purity. Suddenly, as in a Disney cartoon, the birds begin to sing as if on cue.

That really happens.

Once, during my predawn walk I spied a dead stone crab high on the beach. As big as a dinner plate, the crab was beautiful and thick with black tipped claws and sandy colored body. I admired him, then walked on to take photos. It was rather dark still, so I decided to sit on the sand for a different angle. About 10 feet in front of the crab I sat and shot for a bit. After shooting I rose and walked to the water, dipping my toes in the foam. Walking back for home I noticed the crab missing. Missing! Was he not dead? A shiver went up my spine. If not dead….where?! I found where he’d been and discovered the footprints of multiple gulls. While I was shooting, the sound of waves and wind in my ears, the gulls were feasting 10 feet behind me….and I never heard it.

It is time to begin again. Time to get off my ass and jump back into the world of the living. I’ve MISSED blogging! I realized I never finished telling you about Scotland! I’m not sure just what happened but I think exhaustion was the culprit. Lots of eldercare responsibilities and living out of a suitcase. Oh, yeah. That’s what it was.

I mean, look at this beautiful world! The ocean is my front yard! (well, kinda) I also mentioned doing a photo essay on something called beach nourishment. (look it up) That’s about to start in earnest here at my beach and I’m not looking forward to it.

I am a freelance Photographer born and raised in the Southeast. I have uprooted my life in Macon Georgia for a new life as an unlikely cowgirl in love with a handsome cowboy in Wyoming. I hope you enjoy my photo journal on life, love, and the spirit of Wyoming.